


A Tale of Three Brothers

by AriaDream



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 07:43:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13946883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriaDream/pseuds/AriaDream
Summary: Arjuna and Karna are homunculi and twins, born together, although Karna is older (by a minute). Siegfried is a baby dragon with a severe lack of draconic magic. He's adopted by Karna's and Arjuna's father, who isn't quite what he seems, and suddenly has to get along with warring siblings. Can they get along and grow up together without killing each other? And what challenges lie in their path? Their father might know but he's a genius at talking all the time yet saying nothing.





	A Tale of Three Brothers

Arjuna doesn’t want to hate Karna, he just does. It’s not because of who they were before, the past life that he can remember if he tries hard enough. (Karna says he can’t remember. Arjuna thinks he isn’t trying.) It’s because Karna is really, really annoying.

Karna doesn’t mean to be annoying, it’s just who he is. Arjuna tries to tell himself that but it doesn’t work too well when his brother says and does things that seem designed to make him mad. It doesn’t help that Karna’s the older brother (again). They’re both magic boys – homunculi – but they grew in the same tube and Karna came out first. That makes him older, if only by a minute. That doesn’t make him _better_ though!

What does make Karna _better_ is his skills. It’s so frustrating for Arjuna, always a step behind his ‘older’ brother, feeling like he’s playing catch up when Karna outdoes him effortlessly. That’s what really makes him hate Karna, even if he knows it’s wrong. And Karna makes it worse of course, shoving his victories right in Arjuna’s face.

Arjuna tries to get along with him though, he really does. For their father. Their father is weird and talks a lot but Arjuna thinks he might be the best father in the world. He teaches them the best things and lets them go play in the woods all the time. The woods are full of magic and other parents don’t let their kids go there, but their father just laughs and says they’ll be fine. The one time Arjuna doesn’t mind Karna is when they play in the woods. It would be lonely if he wasn’t there. (except when they make a competition out of something and Karna wins. Again.)

Their father always begs them to get along, too. He likes to tell them about how when they were babies, Arjuna would scream if Karna was taken away. He would cry and cry until his older brother was finally returned. Arjuna always tells him to stop embarrassing him but deep inside, that story makes him feel uneasy. Because sometimes, even now, when Karna is gone, Arjuna feels like he might never see his brother again. And that thought scares him more than anything.

Arjuna hates Karna, but he also loves Karna, more than anything in the world.

* * *

 

Karna loves Arjuna so much it hurts.

He often thinks it’s wrong to love his brother so much, but he can’t help the feeling. Karna knows how weird it is. He’s lied to Arjuna – he lies too much to Arjuna – but the truth is, he remembers everything. He remembers living as Arjuna’s enemy and dying at his hand, how sad it all was. Karna knows he should hate Arjuna, or at least not like him, but he doesn’t. Karna loves Arjuna instead.

Karna usually doesn’t mean to annoy Arjuna. Most of the time, it just happens. Arjuna hates it when Karna beats him at racing or wrestling and Karna has thought about letting his brother win, but he thinks Arjuna would see through him and that would be worse. And Karna likes it when Arjuna is mad. He would never say it but Karna thinks Arjuna is cutest when he’s scowling with his little babyface.

Karna hates it when Arjuna is ignoring him. Karna sometimes feels that if Arjuna ever forgot about him entirely, he’d somehow disappear. And Karna loves Arjuna, loves him so much and wants to be noticed so sometimes he says things he knows he shouldn’t. Then Arjuna is scowling at him and it’s so endearing that Karna doesn’t regret it at all.

Karna does regret making their father unhappy. He’s so distraught sometimes, begging them to get along and Karna tries for a while, he really does. But then Arjuna is ignoring him again – is he really ignoring Karna or does it just seem like it? – and Karna has to get his attention. He has to! And they’re back to fighting again but for Karna, that’s fine.

Karna would rather fight with Arjuna than not have his brother at all.


End file.
